What opinion writers are saying today about Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s “47 percent” remarks to donors at a fund-raiser in May.

Pardon me, do you have an Grey Poupon?
Sure, there are some government programs that cultivate patterns of dependency in some people. I’d put federal disability payments and unemployment insurance in this category. But, as a description of America today, Romney’s comment is a country-club fantasy. It’s what self-satisfied millionaires say to each other. It reinforces every negative view people have about Romney. Personally, I think he’s a kind, decent man who says stupid things because he is pretending to be something he is not — some sort of cartoonish government-hater. But it scarcely matters. He’s running a depressingly inept presidential campaign. — David Brooks,The New York Times

The latest unwanted disruption
…Romney heads into the final seven weeks of the campaign struggling to shed the aura of a candidate on the skids — an Inspector Clouseau-like figure who can’t perform the basic tasks of his job without getting into trouble. It’s an image wildly at odds with Romney’s background as a successful businessman and entrepreneur, the picture of managerial competence in the board room and the governor’s office. Alexander Burns,Politico

Contempt for millions who will vote for him
It’s worth recalling that a good chunk of the 47 percent who don’t pay income taxes are Romney supporters—especially of course seniors (who might well “believe they are entitled to heath care,” a position Romney agrees with), as well as many lower-income Americans (including men and women serving in the military) who think conservative policies are better for the country even if they’re not getting a tax cut under the Romney plan. So Romney seems to have contempt not just for the Democrats who oppose him, but for tens of millions who intend to vote for him. — William Kristol,The Weekly Standard

Missing with the middle
If Romney wanted to argue that the poor have grown a little too fond of government help, or that America can’t afford to keep borrowing to fund a safety net, the Pew polls suggest large swaths of independent voters would be receptive. But that wasn’t the argument he made at the fundraiser. He was contending that his low-tax message works with independents, but not the government-dependent, which appears not to be true. — Jim Tankersly,National Journal

Here’s the arithmetic
Of the 47 percent of Americans who pay no federal income tax, two-thirds pay federal payroll tax. Most of them aren’t making a lot of money; a couple with two children has to earn less than $26,400 to pay no income tax. Altogether, only a tenth of Americans pay no federal tax, and most who pay neither income nor payroll tax are retirees. Mr. Romney’s vision of the country, in other words, is a fantasy. He believes that 47 percent of Americans “are dependent upon government … believe the government has a responsibility to care for them … that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it.” This is dramatically out of touch with how hard most middle-class people work and how hard they find it to make ends meet. Half of all American households — households, not individuals — earn $50,000 or less, and the official poverty line for a family of four is a meager $23,021. — Editorial inThe Washington PostRead more…

Comments Off on What they’re saying… About Mitt Romney’s “47 percent” comments

Is Gov. John Hickenlooper — former microbrewer and bar owner — a hypocrite for opposing the ballot amendment to legalize and regulate marijuana? It’s a common theme among amendment proponents, and it’s wrong.

That’s not to say Hickenlooper’s arguments are beyond reproach. In his announcement opposing the amendment, for example, he took up the anti-Amendment 64 campaign’s presumably poll-tested theme that the measure threatens our children even though they’d of course be barred from possessing it just as they are today.

Children’s welfare is a legitimate debating point, no doubt, but it’s cynical for the opposition to make it the principal focus of their attacks.

Asked in a recent wsj.com video interview if the upcoming presidential debates — which kick off at the University of Denver on Oct. 3 — were Mitt Romney’s last, best chance to impress voters, columnist Peggy Noonan veered into the Land of Make Believe.

“Well, I think everyone in America will watch them — for a number of reasons,” she said.

If only.

Nielsen ratings data show that a majority of American television households haven’t tuned into the debates since 1980.

Vincent Carroll is The Denver Post's editorial page editor. He has been writing commentary on politics and public policy in Colorado since 1982 and was originally with the Rocky Mountain News, where he was also editor of the editorial pages until that newspaper gave up the ghost in 2009.

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To reach the Denver Post editorial page by phone: 303-954-1331

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